Thornfield in Winter
by Slayer Scribe
Summary: Darcy's winter drink is vanilla vodka and hot cocoa, and with the mansion quiet and Jane Eyre on TV nonsense ensues.
1. Chapter 1

Jane Eyre+Vodka+Darcy= equals trouble for anyone in the vicinity.

Pairing: Clint/Darcy

Rating Teen now, no idea what else later.

I don't own anything from the land of Marvel(Movieverse or any verse actually). No content infringement intended. Just trying to get the story out of my brain...

Unbetaed because it's 6:30am and I don't like showing my fanfic to my friends unless it's Katie. And I don't think she reads Marvel.

Stark Mansion, NYC January 2nd...

Darcy sat on the couch in front of the tv, flipping through the on screen guide and found Jane Eyre. A Large mug of hot coca in her hand and a very large bottle of Vanilla vodka on the coffee table in front of her. Darcy knew the perils of watching anything this unabashedly romantic (and somewhat tragic) alone, in the wintery grey quiet of New York after New Year's, but it was a version she hadn't seen and no one seemed to be in the house, or if they were, they weren't conscious. So she had settled into the tv area adjacent from the kitchen with what was obviously Jane's "I'm visiting my God of Thunder Boyfriend and I'm going to need a lot of energy" cup.

"Dalton" She read as she hit info and found out the Rochester was being played by the former Mr. Bond. "Cool."

Almost three hours later:

Clint was in the kitchen of the Stark Mansion, halfway into the fridge picking out an afternoon beer was serious business in the Stark kitchen. Several micro brews, Yuengling, and a six pack of PBR. Clint paused, A winter ale in hand. PBR meant someone young, he looked on a few other shelves, new coffee beans in a zip lock, and extra hot salsa. He leaned to his left to see three different boxes of pop tarts.

All signs point to, Darcy Lewis.

"eegkh" A sob that was attempting to be stopped up by a tissue could be heard over the hum of the super fridge.

Yup, Darcy. He shut the fridge, twisted the cap off his beer (and sunk the into a trash can across the room, while walking,_ still the champ_) and made his way to the couch.

"Darc-" Clint started, which triggered a thick whimper.

"But hh-ee" hiccup "Loves, her." Darcy was clutching her mug and crying into it.

"Well you've known that for a while, I mean he came back for her." Clint looked down at his beer and sighed. It would keep.

"No you idiot. Rochester." Darcy sniffling and pouring vodka into the large mug that seemed more like a bowl.

Clint gave her a hard look, realizing that Darcy had given up the pretense of a winter cocktail (Hot Cocoa and Vanilla vodka) and had a mug full of vodka. Almost afraid to ask "What version are you watching?"

"One of the older ones..."Her double-take is comical in it's cartoonishness. She was trying not to scoff or give a snide comment, Hawkeye knowledgeable about British classics.

He sat down next to her "Which one Lewis?"

"The one with B-ondd" Darcy was fighting getting worked up again as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and pours more vodka into her mug.

"Hey, hey slow down there Darce" He put his beer on the table. "At this rate you won't ever make it to any of the good stuff."

Darcy took several steadying breaths and paused the film. "Valid point." She eyed him carefully. "Never picked you to be a fan of the classics."

"Well, traveling around with the circus, PBS is one of those things that you can rely on, Antiques Road Show, nature shows and -"

"Adaptations of the classics." she says.

Darcy smiles a combination of the crying and the booze give her extremely rosy cheeks that is kind of adorable.

"Got it in one". Clint took a sip of his beer shaking himself of finding a semi hysterical drunk girl attractive. Plunking his bottle down on the coffee table. "So where are we up to?"

"Jane's already met Rochester. The sparks already flying." Darcy took a sip from the mug still in her hands, Clint could smell the sweetness of the vanilla mixed with the vodka, his nose wrinkled.

"So you were crying for the impending doom?" Clint looked at her turning himself more towards her, their legs much closer together as he watched her.

"Yup". Darcy put down her mug "Wait till we get to the wedding."

"We're going to do all five plus hours in one sitting?" Clint made no attempt to hide his trepidation.

"Oh, c'mon, it's more like three and change now. Besides, got anything better to do?" She gave him charming half smile feeling fairly confident that Barton had less to do than she did.

"No, not really, but I think we could find something to do that's a bit more light hearted which might spread the misery out a bit."

"Oh, ok..."

"But we can watch a bit more now." Clint smiles at her indulgently.

"Oh, goodie, get comfortable Barton, I know I'm about to." With that she slid closer to him and let her head rest on his shoulder.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

So a big thank you to madscott and WolfenIvy who have faith that I can you know, not suck. Anyway this is a shortie because I'm still playing with plot points, but for the sake of timely-ness I wanted to add a new chapter. So The Err is human to forgive is divine... well my chapter title has a different view.

Un-betaed but not for lack of trying.

They set up a schedule, to better space out the story, to try to delay the inevitable Darcy tears. Several snack breaks, and a break for the news. They had made it to snack break two, when Clint asked what they would do if they ever actually finished the so called "mini" series.

"Well, we could watch the new one, you know, with Fassbender."

"Isn't that a bit over kill?" Clint grinned.

"But the new one is, well it's different." Reasoned Darcy.

"It's slow and heavy on the gothic. I mean I get that it's new, and it's got that jiggly hand-held thing going on.-"

"It's sexy." Darcy interjected as she grabbed two small plates from one of the cabinets. And continued getting snack time ready.

Clint opened his mouth once or twice taking in air and noting of use came out. He liked the idea of Darcy enjoying the sensuality of anything, but watching so many different versions of so many stuffy (and sometimes tension filled and sexy) of British classics gave him a thought.

"Do you really enjoy the repression, all that the tension?" Clint teased.

At that moment the fifties looking, and extremely shiny toaster gave up the goods, four pop tarts all of different varieties of sugary goodness. Clint with nimble fingers grabbed at the corners of the hot pastries, and sliding up behind Darcy placed them on the plates in front of her on the counter. Did that scent of sharp something and vanilla ever actually dissipate? Clint inhaled deeply and was awash in Darcy's vanilla imbued scent.

With Clint practically wrapped around her Darcy's ability to process diminished quite a bit. And the witty retort that was brewing in her mind ended up coming out as "gh, kind of." Thank god he couldn't see her face because she was mouthing the words _MORON_ to herself. "It's that build up, as Frankenfuter said, antic-pation." She took out a deep breath. A decent recovery, five points to Lewis.

She tilted her head wafting the vanilla smell like a hazy aura around her, Clint took a step to the side and leaned his back against the counter. Looking at her from the side curious to see her expression as she tried to explain what she meant without stepping into an innuendo minefield.

"I'm all about instant gratification, well most of the time" She gestured to the pop tarts. "But reading, or watching things like Jane Eyre has taught me, the good points to waiting, and to savoring." Darcy

Clint smiled, grabbed the plates, and headed for the couch. Darcy had followed, though a bit behind with mugs of coffee in hand.

"Well that was fun, I hope we can repeat that weirdo exchange all the time." Darcy grumbled quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3  
>look at that, I'm updating, and you thought you'd die before you saw another update hmm?<br>Chapter 1 is supposed to take place somewhere around episode 5 of 10 and they're all about 30-40 mins each if they have commercials, which it does, and while Stark Mansion has Tivo (of this I'm sure) I'm going to assume that fast-forwarding gets tedious when you could just mute the commercials and talk through them and have pleasant conversations.

I'm going to add a little more specificity to chapter 1, so you may want to re-skim it. Since I'm putting this on Ao3 this note may not really exist over there, and there will be a few tiny differences.

Exchanges while viewing:

"He feeds her. he doesn't make someone else do it, no take out, no kitchen minions, that's love." Clint says as he winds his finger in her hair.

"I won't argue with that. When a man feeds me that's it. He might never be rid of me." Darcy said quietly her head back on his shoulder. During the news break they were on the couch together, but not nearly as close as when watching Jane Eyre. When the titles for the episode played the music seemed to incite a pavlovian response in Darcy. The music sent her in search of Clint's shoulder, which was easily found, and she settled there.

* * *

><p>"Farewell" Rochester storms off.<p>

"He's such a diva." Darcy smiles a little.

"You know about divas don't you?" Clint says.

"I'd wager you do as well." Darcy found it was like touching a nerve, she felt him tense for a second as if the memory was physically painful.

"Well, not all divas are destructive bitches." Clint says, he grabs the remote off the table and pauses it.

* * *

><p>"Jane Eyre is dead. She died of the Typhus at Lowood." Mrs. Reed said out of the side of her mouth.<p>

Simultaneously Clint and Darcy reacted.

"AWWW"

"You bitch!" Darcy was tempted to throw something at the screen, but the clean up wasn't worth it. "I hate Mrs. Reed, stupid bitch who can't handle a child's criticism, no wonder she gets killed off."

* * *

><p>At a commercial break<p>

"He's like the beast, from the fairytale, stay a week." Darcy.

"You think Bronte thought about that?" Clint asked rolling his shoulders.

"Maybe, god I wish there was more information about her." Darcy said grabbing the empty plates and taking them to the kitchen.

* * *

><p>"He's mean, he toys with her." Darcy says<p>

"That's sometimes how damaged people show their love." Clint says lazily.

"I know that, it's just, Jane's such a sweetheart, why say things that would screw with her, or hurt her." Darcy dramatized.

"She doesn't tell him how she feels, how is he supposed to know unless he pulls it out of her?" Clint follows along in Darcy's little game.

"Shhh." She ends it with her hand on his.

* * *

><p>Darcy caught her self mouthing the words "Poor, obscure, plain and little," It's not as if Darcy was so plain, or little and sad, but being Jane Foster's assistant will mess with your internal worth when you're not looking.<p>

Clint watches her, the whole speech she does half from memory, half almost as spontaneous as if she were saying them for the first time. It's not his place to comment, The Brontes can screw with your head, this is something Barton knows for sure.

* * *

><p>Jane stands apart from Rochester and says "your wife stands in between us"<p>

"Ahh symbolism!" Darcy practically shouts.

Clint just smiles as Darcy gestures wildly for a few more lines.

* * *

><p>When Rochester admits he wanted to make Jane as love with him as he was with her Clint crows with pleasure.<p>

"I can't believe they left that bit in, it's not in other adaptations." Darcy pops up from his shoulder with surprise.

A few minutes pass.

"Gotta say Dalton does a damn good job as Rochester." Clint's hand is still wrapped up in Darcy's. He squeezes it a little, and she gets back into watching position, (snuggled up against him).

"That he does." Darcy sighs in true fangirl form and it sounds more like a swoon. 


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter may be too mushy for this story... if it doesn't jibe lemme know!

Also: all the same rules still apply, I don't own anything, this is fanfic, and it's set post Avengers movie.

* * *

><p>After a fantastically happy ending, the credits roll one last time and it's well past two. Darcy was quite tired and yawned loudly. "You know why I like your pants Hawkeye."<p>

Clint stretched languorously. "Tell me."

"They're a bit like Rochester's especially in the back." She smiled sleepily at him.

"Oh?" Clint stands up and faces Darcy who's still sprawled on the couch.

"Yes indeed." Darcy smiled, her eyes glinting.

Clint swept Darcy up in his arms, and as her feet lost touch with the floor her concept of reality went out the window. Her arms wrapped around him; his strong arms around him and his chest was pressed up against her. The feeling of total enamorment took over; somewhere in her stomach an ache had formed, her mouth had gone dry, it was intensely wonderful, and surprising. When had she had felt this way about someone? When had it sprung up like a rabid daisy, flowering in one day?  
>Darcy stared him in the eyes and licked her lips. She kissed him, or maybe he kissed her just as she was leaning in to kiss him, either way, it was a deep and passionate kiss that had Darcy clinging to him. She felt the blush rise in her cheeks and her heart pound. Maybe Jane wouldn't have kissed Rochester at this point, but she couldn't help it. Clint had managed to create a genuine affection, where there had only been esteem for physical features.<p>

When he did finally set her down he had managed to get her close to her door. His face was flushed, and his eyes several shades darker than usual. He had been thinking of pulling Darcy close for another kiss, or pushing her up against the door... but getting caught up in the Erye moment had given him an idea.

"Good night." Darcy was a bit breathless.

Clint smiled and bent formally at the waist. "Good night." He kissed her hand, just above her knuckles, keeping eye contact throughout the outdated gesture. Darcy bit back what would have been a nervous giggle, when did anyone...Pull a Rochester? The attention was almost chivalrous.

He then pressed his thumb to her wrist, the contact of his warm calloused hands firmly pressed to her skin, she, there is no better word for it, gasped at the sensation. He turned her hand over and pressed another kiss into her palm. Darcy has to hold the door handle to keep herself from collapsing into a puddle of romance goo.

"Good night, Mr. Barton." She managed.

"Good night Ms. Lewis." He smirked.

She ducks her head and scurries into her room. Darcy sighed deeply. She flopped onto her bed, staring at her hand, looking for evidence of Clint's kiss, but found none. Just her skin, nothing special, no trace that Barton had ever been there.

The next morning there is a copy of the new Jane eyre is on her door in a gift bag. The gold flourishes look a lot like the lace found on Jane's costumes.  
>Attention to detail Mr. Barton, ten points. There was a note:<p>

Ms. Lewis please accompany me in viewing in the most recent adaption of Jane Eyre?

Yours,  
>C.B.<p>

Darcy took her gift bag to breakfast, and found a sleep Jane Foster at the table sipping and sniffing her coffee slowly.

"Morning, Darce," Jane's eyes weren't all the way open just yet.

"Good morning Dr. Foster."

"Oh?" Jane's eyes open a bit wider, surprised at being addressed as such.

"He gave me a copy of the new Jane Eyre, he wishes me to accompany him tonight to watch it." Darcy smiled rather pleased.

Jane grins goofily. "He's wooing you."

Thor strides in singing an Asguadian tune. He stops and smiles awash in the winter sunlight streaming in through enormous panes. Golden god, here he was, a definition in the phrase. "Hello my sweet Jane." He placed a kiss on top of her head.  
>"I trust you slept well." He murmured.<p>

"You now I did." Jane giggles.  
>They share a look of longing, back to bed, for morning relations, it was all over both of their faces. It was somehow terribly indiscreet, and Darcy felt like she was looking in on something private, and made her feel a little out of place.<p>

"Well that just lost you the good poptarts." Darcy sniffed.

Darcy got up, and snagged the vanilla milkshake poptarts leaving the brown sugar ones on a plate in front of the toaster.

"Good morning my friend Darcy, how do you fair?" Looking away from Jane and shooting a covetous look at Darcy's plate.

"Oh, alright, you can have one of the good ones.." Darcy rolled her eyes.

"Merciful as always" Thor grinned as he grabbed a heavenly pastry. "Hot, owfds, hot."

"Oh puppy." Darcy patted Thor on the arm.

He made a small whimpering noise as he left the table and went to the fridge for a glass of water.

"So, Hawkeye?" Jane said glowing.

"He is indeed wooing." Darcy smiled back at Jane.

"foo?" Thor attempts to ask who, but his tongue is slightly burned, it'll heal in less than a minute, but he's trying to ask now and as such, unable to say who properly.

Jane knows what he's trying to say, she's good that way, only with Thor and Darcy though. "Clint and Darcy share an affinity for stuff period pieces."

Thor sits down in between Darcy and Jane. He looks slightly confused, and can now speak, ah not even poptarts can keep a good god-like creature down. "I thought those went at the end of a sentence. Or do you mean womens' time?"

Darcy bursts out laughing, tears running down her face. "Not quite big guy."

-  
>After Thor left to spar with Steve. The girls stayed at the breakfast table sipping another cup of coffee.<p>

"How's the coffee?" Darcy asked, stretching in her seat.

"Well the first two cups were strangely vodka flavored." Jane quipped.

"whoops."

"Yeah, well it wasn't like I was going to the lab today. None of the minions are back from their vacations yet anyway. Turns out most of them do have lives other than doing my bidding." Jane replied casually.

"Strange, people who do things other than. science!" Darcy teased.

"Well I can count on Stark if I really want to do science" Jane wiggles her fingers at Darcy taking the idea of science a step further.

"Well, Stark is in the building, but I doubt Pepper would let him get lost in the lab when she's still technically on vacation." Jane assured.

"Valid point." Darcy answered.


End file.
